title: Perceived drinking norms among black college students: the race of reference group members.
abstract: Social norms have been consistently shown to influence alcohol use among college students. Much of the research in this area is focused on mostly White samples. This study sought to expand our understanding of social norms theory by examining perceptions of normative alcohol use among Black students and determining the impact of the race of reference group members on personal alcohol use. Participants (N=130; 73.8% female) completed an online questionnaire. Results of repeated measures of analysis of variance indicated that participants perceived all referent groups (i.e., White, same race, typical student) as drinking significantly more than they did. Results of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that perceptions of typical student drinking significantly predicted personal alcohol use. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University at Albany, NY 12222, USA. jlmartin@albany.edu
authors.forename: Jessica L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Gabrielle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Groth
authors.forename: Lindsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Buckner
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gale
authors.forename: Melanie E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Kramer
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012933:Social Identification; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: African American; Alcohol use; Black; College student drinking; Social norms